Mute Eurydice Subject War Genre Tragedy | Chorus Chorus Date premiered February 6, 1944 First performance 6 February 1944 | |
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Similar Jean Anouilh plays, Plays with Creonte, Tragedies | ||
Jean Anouilh's play Antigone is a tragedy inspired by Greek mythology and the play of the same name (Antigone, by Sophocles) from the fifth century B.C. In English, it is often distinguished from its antecedent by being pronounced similarly to its original French form [ɑ̃tiɡɔn], approximately on-tee-GONE.
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Antigone by jean anouilh may 2012
Original production
The play was first performed in Paris at the Théâtre de l'Atelier on February 6, 1944, during the Nazi occupation. Produced under Nazi censorship, the play is purposefully ambiguous with regard to the rejection of authority (represented by Antigone) and the acceptance of it (represented by Creon). The parallels to the French Resistance and the Nazi occupation are clear, however.
British première
The play received its British première by the Old Vic Theatre Company at the New Theatre, London, on 10 February 1949. The production was produced by Laurence Olivier (who also played the role of Chorus) and had the following cast:
Adaptations
Actress Katharine Cornell produced and starred in a 1946 production at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. Sir Cedric Hardwicke played the role of King Creon. Also performing were Bertha Belmore, Wesley Addy, Ruth Matteson, George Mathews, and Oliver Cliff, and Marlon Brando (as the Messenger), Michael Higgins (The Third Guard). The production was staged by Cornell's husband Guthrie McClintic.
There was an English-language television production in 1959 starring Dorothy Tutin.
In 1974, an American television production of the play, presented on PBS, starred Geneviève Bujold and Stacy Keach. It is available on DVD.